APEX Insight: An airline ticket is no longer required to experience the highlights of the airport shopping experience. Retail outlets have captured the magic of air travel and, through clever designs, are sharing it with shoppers. Innovative interiors and themed details fuse the luxury of travel with high-end goods, allowing for a world-class shopping experience – without a passport.

The Bond Between Bags and Air Travel

Luxury luggage brand Rimowa opened its London flagship store earlier this month. The terminal-style design of the Bond Street concept shop mimics the industrial feel of an airplane cargo-hold. Showcasing the same material as the original Rimowa suitcase is a recreation of an early all-metal German aircraft, designed in 1919.

Women’s fashion label, The Clearport, offers a sky-high retail experience at its recently opened New Jersey store. The space includes airport-security style lines leading up to cashiers and arrivals and departures screens showcasing the latest passing trends. Shoppers are invited to fill up gray bins with their selections before heading to the fitting room.

The Clearport recently opened an aviation-inspired retail concept store in New Jersey. Image via WGSN

Number One Travel Boutique

Flight 001, a travel accessories boutique that claims to satisfy the international traveler’s every need, boasts curved walls, glowing lights and warm walnut paneling to imitate the Boeing 747 cabin design. According to testimonials posted on Flight 001’s website, even Martha Stewart approves of the design, saying, “I love this store; it looks like an airplane.”

The exterior of Bangkok’s 45,000 m² Terminal 21 mall resembles a modern airport, and, inside, display boards modeled after flight information screens lead to information desks staffed with “flight attendants.” A network of escalators transports retail adventurers to over 600 stores – disguised as locations from around the world, from Turkish souks to London’s Carnaby Street – taking the shopping experience to a whole new level.

Bangkok’s Terminal 21 shopping mall resembles a modern airport on the inside and out. Image via The Trendy Guide

Jenn Wint is a Vancouver-based communications enthusiast and writer, passionate about good stories, laughter, world travel and excessive jellybean consumption. She is currently training to hike to Macchu Pichu and tick Peru off her bucket list.